Wick-trimmer



(Nol Model.)

C. ROSEBERRY.

WICK TRIMMBR.

No. 448,789. Patented 1V[ar24, 1891.

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CLEMENT ROSEBERRY, 0F POTTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

WICK-TRINIMER.

SPECFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,789, dated March 24, 1891.

Application led January 2, 1891.

To rif/ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, CLEMENT ROSEBERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pottsville, in the county of Schuylkill and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lam p-lVick Trimmers; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in trimmers or cutters for cutting or trimming the wicks of center-draft lamps; and my object is to provide a device simple in its construction and economical in price which will quickly and efficiently remove from a circular lamp-wick theburn ed or used part thereof without soiling the lamp or the fingers of the party trimming the wick, and which will collect the burned particles of the wick on the knife-blade and prevent the same from falling inside of the air-space, thus in time interfering with the necessary air-circulation of the lamp.

One of the especial features of my invention is that, owing to the simplicity of its construction', it is not liable to get out' of order. Its parts cannot only be readily duplicated, but, as can be seen by a glance at the drawings, be furnished at a minimum cost. Any ordinary domestic can put the parts together as well as operate it, inasmuch as it consists of but two parts, the stock or cylinder and a detachable knife.

I attain the desirable objects I have referred to by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a view of the vtop of a lamp with the trimmer in position ready to cut the wick. Fig. 2 is asection oi' the trimmer, showing the knife in place. Fig. 3 is a side view of the trimmer, showing the knif'e also in place. Fig. et is a perspective view of the knife, showing the stem B, the blade F, and the rim II.

Similar letters throughout the drawings designate corresponding parts.

A is the barrel or stock of the trimmer, and is made in various sizes to suit the diameters of the different-sized wick-tubes, and is made cylindrical in form and of tin or otliermetal Serial No. 376,485. (No model.)

or composition of metal or of wood, and is rolled at the top D to afford a convenient held for the operator. Slight changes may be made in the rolled end, as may be desired,

`without affecting the efficiency of this device; but it should not be made conical in shape, for the reason that Asuch a shaped stock has no uniform bearing, which is essential to the successful operation of such trimmers, for if pressed down so as to obtain a steady bearing a conical stock will jam with the inside cylinder of the lamp. If the stock be not pressed down sufficiently, the stock will wabble or be unsteady, and conse- Aquently the knife cannot bear uniformly on the wick. Another reason why the stock should be cylindrical is that if it was not so it could not be used upon many improved lamps which are provided wit-l1 a cap or noz- Zle to spread the flame without removing this nozzle, which, being oily and dirty, is very objectionable.

G is the knife with its concave blade and laterally-extending blade F, and is made integral and preferably of sheet metal to insure a cutting-edge on the blade, and also to provideV the stem B with a sufficiently strong spring, so that in' bearing on a wick of any unequal thickness or having any unusually tough strand or fiber the blade will automatically pass over such part, and upon an additional rotation of the stock the blade will sever such strand or fiber without causing the wick to pucker or change its sett-ing.

F is made with a concave sharpened edge, and therefore is enabled to dut the wick in the most effective manner. The back of blade F is turned up so as to provide a rim, and the blade, being sufficiently wide, presents a safe place of deposit for the cuttings from t-he wick X; also, by reason of the springstem and the concave blade, a pressure is exerted upon the wick, producing a scissors cut. If the blade were not so shaped and so operated upon by the spring, this pressure would be lost and no such cut could be produced. The importance of having a blade of such shape and power as will cut every fiber clean can be well understood when it is remembered that one fiber will cause a point to appear in the flame.

In cutting a wick by my trimmer the wick IOC cannot puckcr or catch, which is very important to a successful operation.

lt will be understood that knife G is not adjustable to suit the wicks of different-sized lamps.

Stem B is provided on the outside with a lip C for raising knife G in adjusting` it upon the wick preparatory to the operation of cntting` and is held in position upon the stock A by means of strap E, which is made of sufcient width and which lits snugly, so as to retain theknife in position. I may use more than one strap of narrower width if I so dcsire.

In operating my device I place the proper sized trimmer on the top of the 1amp,the chimney first being' removed. I then withdraw the blade of the knife from its position when at resigandturning]r the top of thelamp,

i l l whereby the wick is fed upon the lower end of the trimmer, I allow the knife to spring' back to its position upon the wick, and by simply rotating the trimmer either to the right or left., the blade being guided by the top of the outside cylinder conningthe wick,

` trim it in a uniform and perfect manner.

Having sufficiently described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secu re by Letters Patent, is-

In a device for trimming circular wicks, a cylindrical stock, in combination with a knife having a concave blade-edge and said blade having` a rim and a spring back or stem7 substantially as shown and described.

CLEMENT ROSEBERRY.

Witnesses:

GEO. M. RoADs, J. G. SMITH. 

